Bengaluru: Trent Ltd., the Tata Group company behind the billion-dollar fashion brand Zudio, aims to introduce a new brand to its portfolio every five years, its managing director said on Friday.
Bengaluru: Trent Ltd., the Tata Group company behind the billion-dollar fashion brand Zudio, aims to introduce a new brand to its portfolio every five years, its managing director said on Friday.
"Trent is not just about one brand; it serves as a platform, and that’s how we approach it. Our focus is on the ability to originate, incubate, and scale brands," P. Venkatasalu, managing director of Trent, said at the launch of Westside's YNG collection in Bengaluru. "Why can’t we create more billion-dollar brands?" he said. “Incorporating one new brand into our portfolio every five years is, I believe, very powerful.”
"Trent is not just about one brand; it serves as a platform, and that’s how we approach it. Our focus is on the ability to originate, incubate, and scale brands," P. Venkatasalu, managing director of Trent, said at the launch of Westside's YNG collection in Bengaluru. "Why can’t we create more billion-dollar brands?" he said. “Incorporating one new brand into our portfolio every five years is, I believe, very powerful.”
Trent has added three new brands to its portfolio in the past five years —Utsah, Samoh, and most recently Burnt Toast — while also expanding Zudio Beauty into a standalone format. This builds on its core lineup of Zudio, the value fashion brand; Westside, which targets a more premium audience; and Star, its food and grocery vertical.
Growth driver
Zudio is one of the biggest growth engines for the company, having crossed $1 billion in revenue in FY25. In the June quarter of FY26, Zudio and Westside accounted for 82% of Trent's ₹4,883 crore of revenue, with the remaining 18% coming from its food and grocery unit Star. The company did not disclose standalone revenue for Zudio and Westside. As of the June quarter the company had 766 Zudio stores, 248 Westside stores and 77 Star outlets.
Trent recently launched a new brand, Burnt Toast, which targets Gen Alpha (those aged 15-25), and aims to make it the next billion-dollar successs story after Zudio. Burnt Toast products are currently available in three cities – Mumbai, Bengaluru and Surat, and the company aims to open about six new stores across India by the end of FY26, said Umashan Naidoo, head of customer and beauty at Trent.
Analysts cut revenue estimates
While Trent is still growing, brokerage firms Nuvama, Axis Securities and Systematix have cut their revenue estimates for FY27. In a note on 6 August, Rajiv Bharati, Abneesh Roy and Ashish Vanwari of Nuvama highlighted Trent's slowing growth and the low-single-digit like-for-like (LFL) growth of its fashion portfolio.
Another note by Chetan Mahadik and Vijay Jangir of Systematix, also dated 6 August, echoed this view. It noted "moderation in growth momentum" and low-single-digit LFL growth for fashion concepts in the first quarter of FY26. It also said that adding multiple Zudio stores in the same vicinity has “put some pressure on [same-store sales growth]”.
Trent’s latest results show growth is slowing. In the June quarter of FY26, revenue rose 19.8% year-on-year to ₹4,781 crore — a sharp slowdown compared to the 57% surge in the same quarter last year. Like-for-like sales across its fashion formats were in the low single digits, while Star reported no growth despite a 7% rise in revenue. Store expansion has also moderated, with only one Zudio store (net) and no new Westside stores added in the quarter.
Despite slowing growth, Venkatasalu said he was optimistic about adding new brands to Trent's portfolio. “We will continue to plant seeds and try new things, not like 20 but a few at a time,” he said.
Venkatasalu said he was also bullish about emerging categories such as beauty & personal care (Zudio Beauty), innerwear and footwear, which contribute about 21% of the company’s revenue. These categories are seeing strong traction, according to analysts at Systematix.